Construction of new offices in Bratislava finally moving

Looking at the office property development now, apart from the quarterly or
yearly comparison, it is clear that something is – at least in the capital of
Slovakia – finally stirring. Investor Pressburg Urban Projects the launched
long postponed construction of an office building Forum Business Center at the
corner of Bajkalská and Prievozská streets. This project will bring
17,600 sqm of A-class leasable area. Company Immocap Group announced just a few
days ago that the 19,000 sqm of administration section of the multi-purpose
complex Centrál, which is expected to be completed within next year, is already
75% occupied. Yet, this is not all.

Westend Square also welcomed Generali Slovakia

Busy working environment can already be seen at the
17-storey new office building at Lamačská cesta. As J&T Real Estate
recently informed, they managed to hand over 60% of office space in the tower
and 80% of retail space on the ground floor, out of total 20,000 sqm, to the
first tenants. To make synergy of the names, J&T Real Estate has not
forgotten to stress the fact that the first and the largest tenant so far is the
insurance company Generali Slovakia, which uses about 40% of the total
admin area.

“First impressions of the new company headquarters are very positive.
Pleasant and at the same time representative environment has an impact both on
the work of our employees and, of course, it creates a good image of our company
in the eyes of our clients. Westend Square is a combination of quality,
modernity and practicality, which is entirely consistent with our insurance
company,” said Vladimír Bezděk, Chairman and CEO of Generali Slovakia.

Other tenants of the modern offices will soon be joined by sales branch of
Boiron SK, a market leader in homeopathic medicine, for example. “The ability
to meet the needs of such prominent clients shows that we have chosen the right
approach and strategy. When building the office space we try meet all
expectations of our tenants, so that they and their clients feel comfortable in
our premises,” says Pavel Pelikán, CEO of J&T Real Estate.

However, it is not only the most modern “A” offices that tenants in
Westend Square appreciate. Pleasant views of the green forests in the Železná
studnička area, great strategic location near the intersection of motorway and
city ring-road, barely 10-minute journey to the city centre, a café and a
dining room seating 200 diners and enough parking space are the norm rather
than a special bonus.

Westend Square adjacent to Westend Tower and lower office buildings Westend
Court completes the emerging business area Westend Business Park. Total
investment costs for the construction of the office tower reached EUR
37 million.

J&T Real Estate, a.s. is among leaders in the real estate market in
Central Europe, especially in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The property
developer focuses on implementation of residential, office, industrial and hotel
projects. Its flagship project is the recently completed River Park Bratislava.
Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras, office project Tower 115 in Bratislava,
residential complex Karloveské rameno, Prosek Point or luxurious Rezidence
Kampa in Prague are just a fraction of the company’s projects. There are
other projects in preparation – for example Zuckermandel, Panorama City and
others.

BBC 1 Plus’s leadership in green offices

As we reported two weeks ago, 13-storey admin
complex Bratislava Business Center 1 Plus (BBC 1 Plus) with leasable area of
15,900 sqm, for which the company CA Immo is seeking eco-certification LEED, is
the first truly green, organic and sustainable office building in the capital.
The media campaign launched by the developer comes with a simple message and
fitting visuals. The concept of advertising prepared by Kharisma agency, uses
the connection of the project’s name with its benefits underlined by
sustainability and the resulting benefits for tenants and occupiers of the
building.

In its title, the office building BBC 1 Plus does not conceal its primacy in
the green building market with admin premises in Bratislava. The green sign
“plus”, which dominates the graphic design, is to highlight the main idea:
the added value of BBC 1 Plus in comparison to other office buildings of
standard A (lower operation costs, healthy and pleasant working environment,
respect for the environment and the city).

The second phase of the project campaign will take place in November at
selected Slovak dailies and prints. From October a large format banner located
on a busy crossroad in Bratislava Ružinov will advertise the first green office
building just few metres from the place where the building is actually
arising.

New team member and local expert will be in charge of the leasing
process

Since the Austrian company decided to combine their
international experience with knowledge of local experts, they have put a new
representative of CA Immo Radovan Mihálek, member of local management and the
leasing chief of BBC 1 Plus, in charge of the lease management of the first
green office building in the Slovak capital.

“Radovan got our attention because of his experience that he will surely
make full use of in the project of the first sustainable building in
Bratislava,” said Gernot Weingraber, asset manager at CA Immo for Central and
Eastern Europe. “To be in charge of leasing such an important project is a
major challenge, especially if it is a concept that moves up the quality level
of office space, urban and working environment,” added Mr Mihálek. As he
specified, the pre-lease of BBC 1 Plus is above 25%. “I believe that, given
the quality of the project, we will be at least as successful as we have been so
far,” he concluded.

Radovan Mihálek worked as a project consultant for Penta Investment Limited
where he was in charge of leasing admin project Digital Park II and OC Bory
Mall. He also participated in other Penta’s projects – Digital Park I and
III, the mixed-use project at Čulenova Street in Bratislava, residential
project in Bratislava-Ružinov and an admin project at Florenc, Prague.

CA Immo was founded in 1987 and is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. It
deals with development and investment in commercial real estate (in the
long-term primarily in sustainable office space) in Austria, Germany and Eastern
Europe. Taking into account the assets acquired by Europolis AG in early 2011,
its total property investment amounts to about EUR 5 billion.

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